Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Ryland, Peters and Small , 2003
Release Date:
ISBN: 1841724742
Awards:  
Format Reviewed:
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Read an Excerpt
Genre: Nonfiction/Design
Reviewed: 2004
Reviewer: Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Reviewer Notes:  Rating: 5 of 5

Reviewer, Carolyn Howard-Johnson, is the award-winning author of This is the Place and Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered

Copyright MyShelf.com

Style on a Budget
Affordable Ideas for a Relaxed Home
By Emily Chalmers, words by Ali Hanan

Photography by Debi Treloar

Trawling for Decorating Ideas?
Check Out Style on a Budget

      This book is exactly as advertised plus some. Style on a Budget by Emily Chalmers and Ali Hanan is stylish and replete with ideas for decorating that require little money.

      Generally, the reader will need to bring some of her own imagination to suggested projects. This is not a step by step how-to but rather a muse for design. One such suggestion that left me thinking about its possibilities is that you can hot-wash old woolens (Goodwill Industries, anyone?) to make felt that might texture pillows, windows, bedspreads or the like.

      I found the authors’ suggestion that stuffing brightly colored totes with clothes and toys might help organize an overflowing child’s room promising. It is my belief that this book would be most useful for those decorating a first apartment, a loft, a very small house, or a second home but certainly this book will spark anyone’s imagination.

      The authors offer penny-pinching ideas for fabrics, window treatments, storage, flooring and other materials for the home. Readers will find suggestions for finding treasures in unlikely places and making do (creatively!) with inexpensive materials from places like IKEA, Pier One Imports and flea markets. Resources such as these are included, and picture credits are given. (By the way, the photographer, Debi Treloar, is excellent and the paper quality and design make this a coffee table book.)

     At times I wished for more how-to details (I wanted to know if a special kind of paint is needed to turn an old bathtub hot pink) but this is, after all, primarily a book of ideas and I’m sure my neighborhood paint store can help me with such intricacies. All in all, Style on a Budget will not disappoint.